Beach Volleyball Drops Tournament Opener to No. 7 Grand Canyon

HUNTSVILLE, ALA. – South Carolina beach volleyball opened postseason play at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association’s conference tournament Thursday morning, dropping a 3-0 decision to No. 7 Grand Canyon (25-6). The Gamecocks move back to 19-11 overall for the season and will fall into the consolation bracket, where they will face No. 4 Florida State on Friday, April 28.

Leading off the weekend tournament, Carolina dropped the opening set on four of the five courts but was able to rally back. The ‘Lopes were able to take the first two points of the dual on courts one and two, but the final three matches would progress to a third set after Gamecock rallies on courts four and five. GCU pushed away late in the third set on court five and took the match, 15-12, to clinch the team victory. Due to weather and scheduling concerns, all duals on Thursday were only played to decision.

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The Gamecocks face No. 4 Florida State in the consolation bracket of the tournament, with first serve scheduled for 12 p.m. ET. The Seminoles entered the tournament as the number two seed but fell to LSU, 3-1, in the first round of the tournament. Carolina has faced Florida State twice already this spring, dropping both duals.

RESULTS
No. 7 Grand Canyon 3, No. 16 South Carolina 0
1: Alli Hansen/Abbie Hughes (GCU) def. Skylar Allen/Simone Priebe (SC), 18-21, 18-21
2: Samaya Morin/Allanis Navas (GCU) def. Kaeli Crews/Hannah Mackenhausen (SC), 11-21, 17-21
3: Cami Sanchez/Anaya Evans (GCU) vs. Allison Coens/Lauren Wilcock (SC), 21-17, 17-21, 8-12, DNF
4: Brooke Birch/Krista Rowan (GCU) vs. Jolie Cranford/Kennedy Westendorff (SC), 16-21, 24-22, 1-0, DNF
5: Jessica Drake/Dana Roskic (GCU) def. Elizabeth Thompson/Peyton Gray (SC), 17-21, 21-14, 12-15
Order of finish: 2,1,5